


As Real as the Here and Now

by respoftw



Series: Tumblr Prompts - Hawksilver edition [19]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-21
Updated: 2015-05-21
Packaged: 2018-03-31 14:43:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3981928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anonymous said:</p>
<p>Idea for a Hawksilver prompt thing What if like its post aou and everyone still thinks Pietro is dead but like he is sometimes around to keep an eye on Clint and notices just how bad he is spiraling down over Pietros death and like eventually Pietro just is like waiting in Clint's room for him and when Clint walks in he starts to cry and panic and scream because he just thinks it's another one of his nightmares.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As Real as the Here and Now

**Author's Note:**

> Title from a quote by John Lennon:  
> Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?

Pietro knows he shouldn’t be here. 

He’d promised Wanda that he would hide until she could find a way to explain to the Avengers why her previously dead brother was suddenly walking around without a scratch.   He doesn’t understand it himself, really.  One minute he was crumpling to the ground in pain, mind racing with regrets of things left undone and words left unsaid and the next he was standing in front of a terrified looking Wanda.

She seems to think that she _willed_ him back to life and while he can’t argue that he isn’t happy to be back, the knowledge of just how powerful Wanda’s powers are is more than a little disconcerting.

So he stays close, checks in on her.  He’s spent his entire life looking out for his sister; he’s not going to stop now.  The security in the new Avengers HQ really is a joke, no-one has caught him yet.  Any disappointment he feels at that fact is quickly clamped down.  Wanda has asked him to stay hidden.  He would do anything for Wanda, even if it means that he’s a little bit lonely.

The only time they’ve not been together in the past ten years was when HYDRA had them in separate cells but even then he’d been able to hear her, although he sometimes wished he couldn't.  He’s never been on his own before and he’s finding that he doesn’t like it.

After watching Wanda sleep for a while, he stretches and decides to head back.  He’s not sure where he’s going to go this time, maybe somewhere sunny for a change.  He’d look good with a tan.

As he’s leaving, a new detail catches his eye – another of the seemingly endless rooms appears to be in use.  A new Avenger?  He can’t help but take a peek.

It’s not a new Avenger, but an old one.  The one with the arrows, the one he had saved, the one he found running through his mind back in Sokovia as the darkness crept in, the one he wishes he had the chance to know better.

He shouldn’t lurk, the risk is too high but he can’t help but be curious.  The last he heard, Clint had retired from the Avengers to spend time with his family.  Apparently he even had a farm. 

From the look of the empty whisky bottles littering the room, retirement had not gone well.

Clint’s room is a disaster and the man himself doesn’t seem much better.  He creeps forward to look at the sleeping form on the bed.  Clint is unshaven and restless, dark circles around his eyes making him look older than he is. 

He freezes as Clint calls out but relaxes when he realises that the archer is still asleep.  Asleep and in the middle of what looks like a nightmare.  He turns to leave, knowing that this is none of his business but stops as he hears Clint cry out his name.

He's convinced that he's been caught and the overwhelming feeling is one of relief. He won't be alone anymore. But Clint is still dreaming, and he's getting more and more distressed.

The sheets are soaked through with sweat as Pietro approaches the bed cautiously. He wants to wake him up, he can't stand the whimpering moans coming from the brave Avenger's bed, but he still has the promise he made to Wanda.

The decision is taken from his hands as Clint jolts awake with a strangled scream.

Pietro is trapped, too afraid to move, and can only watch as Clint spots him and starts to shake his head violently.

“No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no”

He'd never imagined that Clint could sound so broken. Pietro doesn't know what he had been dreaming about but it must have been bad. He knows a little something about bad dreams himself and he reaches out gently, intending to comfort Clint as he rocks himself on the bed.

As his hand grabs Clint's arm, Clint reacts and scuttles off the bed, putting as much room between them as he can, grabbing a half empty bottle of Jack as he goes.

“Clint?”

The bottle drops and spills on the floor at the sound of Pietro's voice.

“STOP IT! FUCK.” Clint pulls at his hair in frustration. “Cap was right...I'm going cuckoo. Fuck.”

“Clint, please. What's wrong? I can help.” Pietro pleads as he tries to move closer.

“No. Stay the hell away. You're dead” Clint barks out a laugh that sounds more like a sob. “I saw you die. I see you die. Every fucking night. Now you're here and I'm actually losing it. Jesus, Laura was right to throw me out.”

_Shit._ Pietro has the awful feeling that he knows exactly what Clint's nightmare had been about. This is all his fault.

“Please Clint, you're not losing it. Wanda brought me back, I'm really here.” He can tell that Clint doesn't believe him. Hell, he's not sure he'd believe him if their positions were reversed. There's nothing he can say to make it better so he does what Wanda would do for him and pulls Clint in for a hug. He's stiff and resisting at first but as Pietro holds on, he relaxes into it and opens up.

From the muffled apologies being whispered into his neck, Pietro knows that Clint hasn't accepted him as reality yet but that's not important right now. What's important is letting Clint get it off his chest. Pietro makes a pledge to still be here when he's had a chance to sober up. He can't keep his promise to Wanda, not now he knows how hard his death has been on the other man. His sister will understand.

Clint falls asleep in his arms and Pietro moves him to the bed. After a quick burst of speed allows him to clean the room as much as possible he curls up in the chair, making sure that he's the first thing that Clint sees when he wakes up.

He blinks awake a few hours later to find a sober, worn out Clint sitting on the edge of the bed staring at him in wonder.

“You're really here” he whispers. “I did _not_ see that one coming.”

“I walked it off?” Pietro's attempt at humour earns him a small smile from Clint.

The smile drops from his face as Clint starts to talk. “I'm so sorry, kid. It's my fault that y- -”

Pietro interrupts him with a kiss. “The only thing you need to be sorry for is not giving me the chance to do that before I died.”

Clint's grin is wider now. “Had to come all the way back from the dead just to do that?”

Pietro shrugs. “Eh, I also had a library book due back so...” He relishes the sound of Clint's laughter and knows he made the right decision to stay.

Now all they have to do is tell the rest of the team.......

  
  


  
  


 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [Tumblr](http://pietrolovesclint.tumblr.com/)


End file.
